As mentioned throughout this chapter and as will be detailed in several chapters later in this text, acceptance and mindfulness techniques have been creatively applied in a number of youth-relevant contexts. For example, recent child treatments use metaphor and story to focus on acceptance of distressing thoughts and feelings rather than on changing them. Mindfulness exercises have also recently been introduced in classroom settings and assigned as homework on teen-friendly CDs. While acceptance and mind- fulness have long been practiced as part of spiritual and religious traditions, these con- cepts are relatively novel in mainstream contexts such as education and treatment. As acceptance and mindfulness are brought into these settings, several noteworthy issues and questions about future directions arise.
Another issue to address in the future is whether there are populations for whom acceptance and mindfulness procedures work better than others. The only way to answer this question is through a series of carefully designed studies that identify important clinical processes and outcome variables. As an example of the importance of empirical examination, consider the following: It is reasonable to see both sides of a debate about the utility of acceptance in early adolescence. For example, one clinician might say that a self-absorbed girl in early adolescence could not step back from her imagined audience
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long enough to recognize that her distress about her appearance may be a large part of the foundation of many of her strongest friendships. A second clinician may view the same client as being able to accept the distress entirely because she is so aware of it and her relation to others paying attention to her. Theoretically, neither clinician is more correct than the other—the data would be the judge of whether this teen could or could not accept her distress; and over time, in similar situations, the data would prove whether an acceptance-based approach would work in this population.
Although it is important to be guided by data, it is equally important to remember that acceptance- and mindfulness-based approaches require creativity, especially when used with youth. Many of the chapters in this volume are the result of clinician creativity and novel thinking. Many of these authors were told that such work could not be done with youth. Fortunately we were able to stay in the present moment, experience fully, and move our work in a valued direction. We hope as you read, and as acceptance- and mindfulness- based treatments move forward, that an extraordinary difference can be made.
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